Power of Praise 5-21-10

Good morning, Lord Jesus. Come rule and reign on the earth; come rule and reign in my heart. … “Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him. And Saul’s servants said to him, ‘See now, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. Let our lord now command the servants who attend you to look for someone who is skilful in playing the lyre; and when the evil spirit from God is upon you, he will play it an you will feel better.’ … And David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer…. And whenever the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand, and Saul would be relieved and feel better, and the evil spirit would depart from him” (1 Samuel 16:14-23). In Your sovereignty, according to Your spiritual principles of creation, You give us each freedom to open our hearts to what is holy or to what is evil, to “make room” for Your Holy Spirit or to “make room for the devil” (Ephesians 4:27). You lead us and want us turn to You and willingly embrace Your Holy Spirit to lead us in Your holy ways. But at the same time, the enemy of our souls also want to use Your same spiritual principles against us, tempting to lead us because he wants us to embrace his unholy spirits to lead in his unholy ways. Our choices of rebellion and sin are taken as our permission in the spiritual realm for whatever spirits are associated with our behavior to have access to our lives, just our choices or obedience and faith are taken as our permission for Your Holy Spirit to have access in our lives. We can “submit (ourselves) therefore to God; resist the devil and he will flee,” but by the same principle, we can also resist God, submit ourselves to the devil, and he will have access through the gates of hell we’ve opened wide to him to torment us (James 4:7). You want us to have life and have it abundantly, in Your peace and grace, but our enemy comes through the permission and access we give him to steal and kill and destroy (John 10:10). In Your sovereignty, You set before us the choice of life or death, blessing or curse, peace or torment, embracing Your Holy Spirit or the enemy’s unholy spirits (Deuteronomy 30:19). Saul, through his choices, embraced evil and the spirits associated with it. But even in the torment of our rebellion, Your heart is to send a Savior. Your heart is for our deliverance and not our bondage, for our peace and not our torment. And through the love of David and his gift of worship, You were reaching out to Saul to draw him back to You. As David worshiped, evil departed. As he welcomed the Presence of God, the tormenting spirit had to flee. Darkness is always overcome by the light. So when we choose to embrace You and Your Holy Spirit, darkness has to flee, as You deliver us out of the kingdom of darkness and establish us in the kingdom of Your light in Christ (Colossians 1:13). And worship is a mighty “weapon of our warfare” to overcome the tormenting power and presence of our spiritual enemy (2 Corinthians 10:4). Praising You and welcoming the abiding Presence of Your Holy Spirit in one of the “keys to the kingdom of heaven” You’ve placed in our hands to open the gates of righteousness and slam shut the gates of hell (Matthew 16:19). Lord, draw me into deeper places of worship. Lift me high above my enemies into Your Presence through praise. Let the tormenting enemies of my soul be scattered as I worship You in spirit and truth. You are my Savior and my Deliverer. And You are the God who even sings over me, to set me free from everything that would try to torment me, as Your Holy Spirit comes to draw me close to the One who loves me (Zephaniah 3:17). In the freedom You’ve given me by the sovereignty of Your spiritual principles of creation, I willingly worship You and welcome You into my heart and my life this day and every day. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen. Be encouraged today! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Come Tonight! Welsh Revival at The Fountain this Friday Night May 21! at 7 pm. Our good friend Heather Butler from Wales, a greatly anointed prophetic psalmist will share her ministry of singing prophetically over the people and the land. Please come join us and spread the word. The Fountain is our Messiah Ministries' monthly citywide gathering for prayer, praise, and healing worship, as we come together from the various streams and traditions of the Body of Christ in our city to experience and encounter the Presence of the Lord together to worship God freely in spirit and truth. Come drink deeply from The Fountain of His Living Waters and be refreshed and renewed in His Living Presence. Hosted by Messiah Ministries in the chapel of Centenary Church in Lexington, Kentucky, where our ministry home is located, 2800 Tates Creek Rd. Contact Marilyn Walker, our Director of Ministries for details: DirOfMinistries@aol.com or 859-317-1591 All are Welcome! Come and Spread the Word! Please share these morning prayers with anyone who may be interested. Subscribe by email to Tommy Hays at Messiah Ministries: MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord ... Ministering the Healing Love of God" www.messiah-ministries.org To order my books and our ministry resources or contribute to our ministry on-line: www.shop.messiah-ministries.org Messiah Ministries; 2800 Tates Creek Rd; Lexington, KY 40502 God bless you!